Today I am sharing a few things I do monthly to prepare myself for the month ahead.

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I am a prepper. (Not the kind that has 40,000 gallon drums of beans and rice.) I like to go into the month ready to succeed. So here are a few things I do.

Plan my budget unique to that month.

February and November do not have the same budget. You cannot set it and forget it. I need to add in things like birthdays, trips, appointments and other things I know will arise.

Fund my Roth IRA.

I am self-employed, so my retirement falls on me. Each month my goal is to put $500 into my Roth IRA. Some months I can’t. But I do something. Investing is a time game. The longer my money stays in the market, the better off I will be.

Check my FSA.

I know we have appointments coming up and I need to see how much money is in my Flex Spending Account. If you don’t know what an FSA is, it’s an account that you can deposit money into PRETAX, that lowers your taxable income and you can spend that money on medical expenses.

Fill in my monthly calendar.

I need to write down any due dates, appointments or work obligations I have, as well as any family schedules that I need to keep up with.

Set monthly goals.

While my calendar is out, I am going to jot down a few ideas for the month.

Reset my home

There are a few things I need to do around my house to prepare for the month ahead.

Clean my appliances

Wait what?? Yes. You read that right. I am going to clean my washing machine and dishwasher using a special cleaner. If I want my appliances to last I need to do basic maintenance of them. This means washing them.